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Fantastic night at the Tweeter. Biggest surprise had to be just how great Sammy was. From beginning to end he owned the joint. He opened with Shaka Doobie, Runaround, 3 Lock Box, and One Way To Rock then was joined by Michael Anthony. They proceeded to bang out a nice stretch of about 5 VH songs. M. Anthony left so the Waboritas could round out the night with 55, Heavy Metal, and Mas Tequila. The oncore stole the show as the closed with When its Love, being joined by Mike again, GARY freakin'CHERONE, and the boys from "Boston". What a trip seeing Sammy and Cherone trading verses for WIL. The crowd was so into Sammy's show you had to be there to believe it.
As for Dave's show, what can you say about the songs....so great to hear stuff like Atomic Punk, And The Cradle WIll Rock, So this is love, Hot For Teacher, Panama, etc, etc. Classic VH songs all night with one dud mixed in - Yankee Rose. Unfortunately, Dave's show was anti-climactic to Sammy's show and it was evident in the crowd. The energy in the place was about half of what it had been for Sammy...could not believe that. But, hey, Sammy was just better. Period. As for Dave's guitarist? WOW. The guy had every god damn note down perfectly. This tour is well worth the $60 or so. Nothing wrong with 3 hours of Van Halen, is there?

I just got back from the show, and I would like to say hi to my fellow linkers who I met up with tonight! It was also great seeing my good friend Maya who brought a bootleg of the show we saw at Chicago (courtesy of Hain!). Anyway, where to begin?
I picked up Maya at the Red Roof Inn in Foxboro/Mansfield and from there we went to Greatwoods and met up with IED along with Van Hampshire! So we get in to the show, and managed to get our way forward to the front of Greatwoods by the stage! Now, keep in mind, my ears are STILL ringing over an hour later! Sammy opened up with Shocka and his usually stuff, and then Big Bad Michael Anthony made a "special guest appearance" like he did in Chicago, and mansfield went nuts! Sammy was really on tonight, and sounded great! He also wore a patriot's T-shirt, and signed some licsense plates from NH and Maine! Then for an encore he brought out Boston along with Gary! All in all I think sammy did a better job this time than in Tinley park! So now onto Dave...
What can say, Dave is well Dave. It was great to hear all the old songs, but something was sorely lacking. It was almost Dave was trying too hard, and not very hard at all. He is in terrific shape, and put on a hell of a show. Yet it seemed very canned, and taking shots at Gary and Sammy WHILE THERE AT GREATWOODS was a little bit uncalled for. Gary was an unwitting victim of bad blood between Dave and the Brothers. Dave's backing band was great however, Ray, James, and Brian all very professional, and looked like they were having a hell of a time. Yet I just couldn't put it out of my mind that this could very well be Dave's last big tour. Another thing, being front row, and striking eye contact with him for about 10 seconds, I noticed that there was a sense of emptiness, disdain, and anger. But then again Dave has been through a lot, and I think it takes more balls to go on tour with your replacement then it does the otherway around.
Overall, I do want to thank those guys for burying the hatchet enought to tour together, and I really did hope that Dave and Sammy would have jammed together, but maybe next time!

I just got back from the show...wow, it was awesome. I don't think either Sammy or Dave outdid the other. I think that they both put on an awesome show. The highlight for Sammy's show was when Gary Cherone came on to sing "When it's Love" and a little bit of "Dreams." It was odd, but cool to see Sammy, Gary, and Mike Anthony together on stage at the same time. Dave's show was also killer. His show was far different. Whereas with Sammy, there is an elaborate setup and a lot of interaction with the fans. DLR takes a different approach. It was just DLR and his three back up musicians playing no-nonsense, meat and potatoes rock n roll. Some interesting notes, DLR took some shots at VH, Sammy, and Gary. He refereed to Eddie as "Mr. Bertenelli" and he said that "Sammy works for me" or something like that. He also said something about how the last time he was at an MTV award Gary Cherone tried to take his job. I disagree with the first reviewer on a couple points. First, I don't think that Sammy Hagar had the crowd from start to finish. I think that both singers really had the crowd going and they both were very well received. Second, I don't think Dave's set was "anti-climatic." However, to each his own. Finally, I want to comment on how each person closed their set. When Sammy closed his set, he was with Mike, Gary, and his whole band and seemed really happy. When DLR closed his set, he took a bow with his band, and then left, and then he returned to the stage all by himself, with a spotlight on him, and waved good-bye. I find the contrast to be interesting. It's as if Sammy seemed so happy and close to his bandmates, and DLR seemed rather lonely by comparison. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how it looked to me. Both Sammy and Dave were awesome, and I had a great time. I'd like to end my review by addressing some critisim of Dave on this tour. It has been said that DLR looks "tired," "old" and "is just going through the motions." I think that is all false. Dave looks like he must go to the gym for three hours a day. Dave doesn't look tired at all, as he did all kinds of flips and jumps.

PS there was some funny drunk dude in the bathroom during intermission that was singing VH and pissing in the sink.

Just got in from the show.. Hagar.. great show, with Mike, Gary, and the boys from Boston. CLASS ACT. Also thanking dave was a nice touch.
Dave..No nonsense show,sounded a bit better,and interacted a bit more then in Hartford..
Dave quote.."last time i was on MTV, Cherone was trying to steal my job!"

Just got home from the show. I am fucking FRIED. My mind is just melted from 3 hours of hard rock assault. Holy shit. Stunned and amazed. I'll try be coherent. And I only had three beers, so none of that.

First off, hooked up with Maya, Bostonian, and Van Hampshire in the parking lot, hung out for an hour or so. Good people, was nice to sit and chat. Hope they had a good time.

Now, the show. Sammy led off the show, and he was, well, Sammy. I've seen him solo before, and he was good then, he's good now. The Waboritas had a bit more energy than I've seen in the past, Vic was working hard. He didn't try to be Ed note for note, but he did okay. Mikey came busting out, just back from vacation. Not sure if he was in NH last night or not, I forget and I'm too lazy to look. Mike was obviously thrilled to be out there playing. Big smile, ton of energy. Sammy sounded good, and I had a GREAT time during his set. My wife is a Sammy fan, she had a blast. No slow downs, no Eagles Fly or Give to Live. The only down time was him telling his little pre-Finish What Ya Started story, but that was okay. Typical Sammy show with more VH content and Mike. Gary came out for the encore and did When It's Love with Sam, he looked and sounded very good. They also brought out Boston at the end of the song, just doing the nah nah chorus at the very end. Looked like they were just hanging out back stage and were dragged out. Gary did a bit of Dreams too, which was the last tune. The crowd was as loud as any VH show I've been to, they sang along, they were hopping. I was thinking that I would NOT want to follow this act. I would have considered my money well spent if I just went home then. But I got much much more.

Now, Dave. I have never seen Dave live. I have always been a Sammy fan, but I have recently gotten more into Dave's VH catalog, and was looking forward to this, to see for myself. I had an expectation walking in based on all the reviews I've seen, and it wasn't a good expectation. Well, they are WRONG. Dave sounded very, VERY good. He sang every lyric, he hit a ton of high notes, he didn't sound forced, he screamed and screeched. Shit, he even tried to fucking SING the lyrics to Jump at the end, which sounded stupid, but that was the only low point musically. Close your eyes, and it was PHENOMENAL. Band was real tight, Brian Young is exceptional. The only thing missing was Mikey's background lyrics. Shit, it's been what, 4 years since I've seen Ed live, I couldn't tell the difference. Sound mix, at least where I was, was perfect. Now, there were some "bad" points. He looked OLD. He was extremely stiff at times. Yes, he occassionally broke into the Dave of old, boogying around, but it was few and far between. He definitely warmed up as the set progressed, but he just stood there an awful lot. He looked awkward and forced at times. He actually looked like he was trying very hard to get the singing right. He did, but he seemed to sacrifice a lot to do it. It didn't SOUND forced, but he LOOKED like he had to force it, if that makes sense. I'm not sure he's capable of singing AND performing for the whole show. And I went in expecting the exact opposite. I expected all show no substance, and kind of got the reverse, great singing and not much show. They just attacked the senses with metal for 90 minutes. No let up. Good shit though, man.

Winner? No. Neither. Both put on GREAT shows, both were on the money. Sam was fun, Dave was a very pleasant surprise. I can say the fans at the show were pro Sam. Dave did dip into some shit talking with a spiel about the VMA's. Said last time he was at the VMA's Gary was trying to steal his job and the Bertinelli's were together forever. Now Ed and Val are a statistic and Sammy Hagar works for him. That got him a chorus of boos. He then looked up, smiled, and said okay, how about I work for Sam? And that got cheers. He then kind of laughed and said it ain't rock and roll without some conflict. It's not word for word, but the crowd gave it to him, he was pretty good about it.

Sammy got the better reception, but I thought they were both great. And, yes, Dave did his Jack Daniels jerking off, but it was no more inappropriate than Sam's waitress and language. Both guys were pretty R rated. Lots of bare boobs on both of their video screens.

Sammy's set was well worth the price of admission alone. He showed that he is one of the greatest performers when it comes to getting the cround involved. I think that he will pick up where Jimmy Buffett leaves off in a few years, who incidently will be at the Tweeter Center this weekend.
Mike has now become my favorite VH member, (the Ringo of VH) and Gary was very gracious for the invite. By the way, Gary is still the best "singer" of the three. (prove me wrong!)
Also, if anyone was wondering why Boston was up there, their guitar player, Gary Piel (sp?) used to play for Sammy in the 55 & VOA days.

Dave started strong, but I thought he faded as the show went on. The kicks in the first few songs were vintage and the screams were priceless however it looks like this might be his last go-around.

Also, Dave said, "the last time that I was on the MTV Video Music Awards, Gary was trying to steal my job and Eddie & Valerie were happily married. Now Sammy is working for me." That garnered a chorus of boo's and further showed that he doesn't give a shit about anybody else but himself. When he sang he kiced ass, but trying to gain approval at somebody (anybody) else's expense is just poor. Shut up & sing! I was gald to hear "Yankee Rose" and would have liked to hear more of his solo stuff, like maybe "Damn Good".

Just my 2 cents.

Lites

P.S.: Enough of people saying how gay Gary looks on-stage. David's prancing was about on par with Freddy Mercury!

"Money may not buy happiness, but it sure can buy a boat big enough to sail right up next to it!" DLR- US Festival pre-show

Sammy kicked ass plain and simple.
Gary looked good and an extra treat was seeing Boston on stage singing the ending chorus on WHEN ITS LOVE.

Dave was Dave, the 1996 VMA comments were ill advised and not well recieved. But then when he said "OK, I work for Sammy" the crowd then mostly cheered.
Brian is a fantastic guitarist, but the vocals and Dave's "me" attitude were a sour point in his set.

Dave would be a great opening act, because Sammy stole the show.
Dave said at the beginning of the show, "happy hour is now over, now its time for the real show." Well if that were true Dave, how come I'd say roughly 20% of the crowd left by midway through your show.

Dave was good, but I wouldn't pay to see him again.
But my tickets were free so I can't complain.

One word of advice: Eddie call Sammy

'Old Van Halen, when I was in it-classic Van Halen-makes you wanna drink, dance and screw, right? And the new Van Halen encourages you to drink milk, drive a Nissan and have a relationship.' - David Lee Roth.

Sammy is NOT fat anymore. He looks like he has lost some weight this summer. When he took his shirt off and put on a PATRIOTS t-shirt with HAGAR 55 on the back, you could see he isin't fat. But some sit-ups wouldn't hurt either to tighten things up a bit. [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

And by looking at the souvenier stands, the Sammy shirts were outselling the dave shirts. In fact, they ran out of a couple different styles of Sammy's shirts.

I bought a (red) RED ROCKER shirt and a Sammy Hagar Teddy Bear for my 2 year old son.

'Old Van Halen, when I was in it-classic Van Halen-makes you wanna drink, dance and screw, right? And the new Van Halen encourages you to drink milk, drive a Nissan and have a relationship.' - David Lee Roth.

Let me start off by saying that I have been a big VH fan for most of my life. I like ALL era's of the band (yes, even Gary's era - although it was different). My expectations before the show was that Sammy would rock, and Dave would be ok, but wouldn't "have it" anymore. Sammy came out and just blew me away!!! I cannot believe that guy can sing like that at 54 years old. He's 8 years older than Dave, but blows him away! I genuinely enjoyed myself during his show, and had a smile on my face the entire time. Seeing Michael Anthony play with him was awesome, but I got goosebumps when he brought Gary Cherone out. It was amazing seeing Sammy, Gary, and Mike up there playing "When It's Love". Gary got a bum rap in VH (although I will admit he was definitely better in Extreme). He looked and sounded great! I wish VH would've released another album with him, because it would've blown VHIII out of the water. Sammy's show was GREAT!!

Dave - well, he was Dave! He was actually better than I expected him to be. His vocals weren't nearly as bad as I expected. His back was tight as hell, and the song selection was kick-ass! He is such an egomaniac though, and it's so hard to look past that! It's "all about Dave". He was in great shape, but the platinum blonde hair with the dark brown roots was kinda funny. All in all, he was good! However, when compared with Sammy's show, there was no comparison. Sammy blew him off the stage! And I am not a "Redhead" - just reporting what I saw. People were booing Dave like crazy, which I wasn't expecting. And Dave said some STUPID things about Ed and Val, Sammy, and Gary. It was definitely a momentum killer!

My ears are still ringing. I probably should've worn ear plugs like some others up front. I thought it was an awesome show on both sides. Good contrast. Dave is a freaking mad man! He said, "Hey, it wouldn't be Rock N Roll without alittle conflict, now would it."

All I can say is WOW!!!!!! I got great seats from Bradman, Brad if you read this thanks man I owe ya one!!!!

Being on stage was incredible!! Sammy came into our section and high fived me, I got to sing into the mic too!! I could hear myself over the PA, Rick Keene (he's the guy who does all the graphics for the jape section) leaned over and was like wow sammy likes you!! he was so cool..

Then mikey came out the crowd went totally nuts, mikey looked right at me and gave the ol thumbs up. I was going to give him the bird, but I figured he does that enough. Mikey was in great form too.
Sammy just blew me away again. I am a converted Redhead now.

For the encore gary came out and sang dreams, then they did another song and pat badger and the boston came out to sing. then Sammy called us all out on stage. I was 2 feet from mikey, he let me strum the bass for a sec and high fived me. and the end of the song he hugged my wife and high fived me again. Sammy came over and hugged me and mrs evhrules. I yelled in his ear to call eddie and he high fived me, so I said it again, Call eddie. He looks at me and goes, ok I will!! So if vh reunites with sammy Its cause of me !! yeah right .

First off I would like to say hello to the fellow VH linkers I met last night. It was cool to be able to talk VH with some real fans. Hell Maya came out from Chicago!
There isn't a whole lot I can say that has'nt already been said. I had a smile on my face the entire time Sammy was out there. MA is difinately the man. I was soooo thrilled to see him. I can't remember hearing a crowd get that loud. Gary came out at the end and I thought he sang pretty good. When he actually sings songs instead of screaming them, he sounds pretty good.
DLR did a great job as well, but as someone posted earlier, it seems as the show is totally all about him. I thought some of his coments could have been spared. He actually got a lot of booing from the crowd when he said that Sam works for him. Another thing that left me flat is that when he speaks to the audience he looks out at the audience like he is on stage at the US festival talking to 300,000 peaple. Sammy gives high fives, signs stuff and interacts with the audience where Dave just talks over them. One thing in particular that I noticed was how one fan stuck his hand right up for him to shake it, yet he seemed to just blow it off. Maybe he did not see the guy, but as I said he looks out to his audience rather than acknowleding them. Then again I guess as one would say, that is just Dave being Dave. One last thing. Not to slam on Dave too much but he gotta do something about his hair! The minute he got sweatty his hair just looked awful! Oh well. People get old.
Overall? Once again, no winner. Both are very different and it is a pure treat to hear that much VH in one night. I'll say this though. God I miss Ed and Al!

"What do you expect from a guy who makes his living beating things with a stick!"-EVH

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